Goat cheese

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Fresh chevre and crackers

Goat cheese, goat's cheese, or chèvre (/ˈʃɛvrə/ or /ˈʃɛv/; from the French word for goat), is cheese made from goat's milk.

Properties

Cow's milk and goat's milk have similar overall fat contents.[1] However, the higher proportion of medium-chain fatty acids such as caproic, caprylic and capric acid in goat's milk contributes to the characteristic tart flavor of goat's milk cheese. (These fatty acids take their name from the Latin for goat, capra.)[2]

Goat milk is often consumed by young children, the elderly, those who are ill, or have a low tolerance to cow's milk. Goat milk is more similar to human milk than that of the cow, although there is large variation among breeds in both animals. Although the West has popularized the cow, goat milk and goat cheese are preferred dairy products in much of the rest of the world. Because goat cheese is often made in areas where refrigeration is limited, aged goat cheeses are often heavily treated with salt to prevent decay. As a result, salt has become associated with the flavor of goat cheese.

Goat cheese has been made for thousands of years, and was probably one of the earliest made dairy products. In the most simple form, goat cheese is made by allowing raw milk to naturally curdle, and then draining and pressing the curds. Other techniques use an acid (such as vinegar or lemon juice) or rennet to coagulate the milk. Soft goat cheeses are made in kitchens all over the world, with cooks hanging bundles of cheesecloth filled with curds in the warm kitchen for several days to drain and cure. If the cheese is to be aged, it is often brined so it will form a rind, and then stored in a cool cheese cave for several months to cure.

Goat cheese softens when exposed to heat, although it does not melt in the same way many cow cheeses do. Firmer goat cheeses with rinds are sometimes baked in an oven to form a warm viscous form of the cheese.

List of goat's milk cheeses by region

Chevre with lavender and wild fennel

Australia

  • Buche Noir is a fresh pressed goats curd covered in fine vine ash from the Sydney region.
  • Meredith Dairy from the western districts of Victoria.

China

Eastern Mediterranean

  • Labneh is a goat or sheep yogurt cheese consumed in many parts of the world including the Eastern Mediterranean. It is often eaten with olive oil, olives, zaatar and fresh vegetables on flatbread for breakfast.

France

France produces a great number of goat's milk cheeses, especially in the Loire Valley and Poitou, where goats are said to have been brought by the Moors in the 8th century.[3] Examples of French chèvres include Bucheron, Chabis, Chavroux, Clochette, Couronne Lochoise, Crottin de Chavignol (largest produced goat cheese AOC), Faisselle, Montrachet (Burgundy), Pélardon, Picodon, Pouligny Saint-Pierre, Rocamadour, Sainte-Maure de Touraine, Chabichou du Poitou, Valençay, and Pyramide.

It is sometimes served hot as chèvre chaud.

Greece

Ireland

  • Tullyboy goat cheese is a hard mature cheese made from pasteurized milk.

Italy

Japan

Malta

  • Ġbejna is a goat (or sheep) soft cheese. Various types are found which include; fresh (friski or tal-ilma), sundried (moxxa, bajda or t'Għawdex), salt cured (maħsula), peppered (tal-bżar) seasoned (imħawra).

Netherlands

  • In the Netherlands there are several smaller goat cheese farms. In the 'Westerkwartier', the region west of the city of Groningen has a relatively large concentration of biological goat cheese farms and the most famous goat cheese from this region is called Machedoux, which is a brie-like cheese made from goat milk that is sold and served in restaurants all over the Netherlands and in Belgium and northern Germany. In other parts of the Netherlands, goat cheese is usually made in the Gouda style.

Norway

  • Geitost, which means goat cheese. It is brown and made from goat milk and whey. You can also buy other brown cheeses, for example Brunost ("Brown cheese") which are made from cow milk whey, goat milk whey or a combination of both.
  • A fresh goat milk cheese is also available, known as Snøfrisk. It comes in different varieties including natural, chanterelles, herbs, and various other additions.
  • Recently a firm white goat cheese was also made available in supermarkets.

Portugal

Spain

Turkey

  • Tulum Cheese is a goat cheese made in Turkey.
  • Sepet Cheese and tr (Kaşar Cheese)] are also produced from goat milk and marketing as Goat Sepet Cheese and Goat Kaşar Cheese.
  • Beyaz Peynir ("White Cheese" in Turkish) is a brine cheese produced from sheep, cow or goat milk and when it is made off 100% goat milk thanit is also categorized as Goat Cheese in Turkey and named as Coat White Cheese.

United Kingdom

United States

Venezuela

  • In Venezuela, specifically in the states of Falcón, Lara and the population of San Jose de Turgua in Miranda state, many types of goat cheese are produced using traditional methods.[citation needed] The most common type is Pasta Firme.[citation needed] A variety of artisanal cheeses are manufactured by smaller producers.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ "Capric acid," Chemical LAND21.com. Accessed 26 June 2008.
  3. ↑ "Get your goat you've pulled...", Impressions Magazine, n.d. Accessed 26 June 2008.
  4. ↑ "Gevrik Cheese," practicallyedible.com. Accessed 26 June 2008.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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